• Spends day at filling stations in Lagos
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,has described the lingering fuel scarcity across the country as shameful.
Osinbajo made the remark yesterday when he paid a surprise visit to two filling stations in Lagos even as he assured that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is doing everything possible to quickly resolve the crisis.
A statement by his Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said the vice president made an unexpected stopover at Oando Filling Station at Lekki area of Lagos State and at Hayden Petrol Station on the Island on Christmas Eve.
In a chat with Nigerians from all walks of life on Sunday evening during the stopover, Osinbajp said the Federal Government was moving as quickly as it could to solve the fuel crisis and reduce the difficulties Nigerians are facing as a result of the situation.
He said: “We are trying to move as quickly as we can. Obviously, people have gone through a lot of pain and anguish in the past few days, and that is deeply regretted. We were trying to do what we can to ensure there is enough petrol to be able to solve the problem.
“We will solve the problem. The short period of scarcity is quite a bit of burden, but we know that so long as products are enough and the trucks are coming out and feeding the stations, this will be over very soon. I am going around with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources here. in Lagos, to ensure that first, the trucks are being loaded from all the depots, and, also, looking at the filling stations to see that things are moving on very well.
“The General Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is also working in Abuja to see that things are moving quickly; and we are moving around the country. So, we expect that it will be resolved very quickly.”
“It’s such a shame to imagine what Christmas has been with this sort of discomfort. This is deeply regretted, and l know with the resilience and strength of people in Lagos and the Nigerian people, we will see ourselves through this. We’ll enjoy our Christmas and have a great new year.”